Means for bending straight strips into annular collars or flanges between a disk and oscillating rollers



A. TUTTLE MEANS FOR BENDING STRAIGHT STRIPS INTO May 24, 1949.

' ANNULAR COLLARS 0R FLANGES BETWEEN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A DISK AND OSCILLATING ROLLERS Filed Nov. 21, 1947 INVENTOR. flew/v 72/774! 1 By W May 24, 1949. TUTTLE 2,471,083

MEANS FOR BENDING STRAIGHT STRIPS INTO .ANNULAR COLLARS 0R FLANGES BETWEEN A DISK AND OSCILLATING ROLLERS v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 21, 1947 IN VEN TOR. Aer/N 727,745

#747 v BY Patented May 24, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i .A N L RhcoLL-A S QR. ANQ S BETWEEN A DISK AND OSCILLATING ROLLERS Arvin Tuttle, fierkeley, Calif. A iplicatioii Noveiiihei' 21, 1947; serial No. M352 9 Claims. (01. its-4'5) The present invention relates to the' mann facture of annular collars or flanges of metal or Ifital alloys aha time to furnish apparatus fol manufacturing such objects in perfectly circular foriri at a Iriiiiiiniim of cost arid with a maximum of siaeii. A

Broadly, therefore, it s an object of this inveh tifin to means for manufacturing ajnnu lar collars or flanges iii an inexpensive, simple and fiiei'ent mai'iher. f r

Another oh'ct of the invention is to furnish nians for mafiufactiiring annular collars or fieiige's, in a miiiimurh ti time.

Mere sheeifiet-ny' it is ah object of the present ini eiitioii to iu'r'nish apparatus for tra'n'sformii'rg er'igiiian straight meta: bal'S in'to collars or fish-gee of beife'ctlir annular shape Furthermore; it is an oliiject of this invention to furnish mechanism; of the type referred to,- that is si-r'hple in construction; easy to Inahipulate ahd consequently capable of turning out large (iuantities of annular collars a flanges at mini Ihiiiii cost and within the shortest of time. I

These and other objects or my invention win he apparent from the following description of the accorhfiaiiyihg drawings which illustrate a pie' eirea rfihodii'rient thereof; arid wherein Figiire' 1 is a diagraiii'm'atical elevation of a" hihe'hine einteai ihg' my intention, showi g the rially straight Bar into an ani'iular flange or col la'r,- iii an expanded positioh; Figure 2 is ira mehta'r'y perspective" view (if this mechahisni with a hlafili properly ios'it'iohd therein; t Figures}, 4 afid" 5 tire, ross-seetihha l' detail views of the" mechanism illustrated in Figure 2 arid represent siiccessifvly later stages in th op ration of the machine; 7 v ,7 Figure 6 is ah illustratiori similar to' Figures 3, 4 and 5, rfireserz'tir'ig the" final' sta'ge in the ni' ahu'fact fire of a ineta l tensiin accordance with friy invention; and x v Figure '7 is a cross-sectional detail view muetratih'g the inannelifi which a" roner' 6f the type shown in the firec'e'cl'ing fig'r ns rnai be arranged; Rereriiii'g to Figure 1, the machineof rny in- \"entio'n comprises a bed plate I'D upon which is hiour'itd a s'tatioh'ary suthe'rt H' and as adjustable eerr'ia' e- F2. Journaled in the sta't'ionary sfiphort a hori'Zo'ntam dish osed s'haftor' spindle M the i riwardhf difectd hd of which is prOl'Ii'QEEd with a) circular plate or dis'c f5 mounted uponsa-id shaft the rotatioh therewith. The-shaft M else carries-s phlle'j' P6 which r n aiy he pr'atively connected by a @irive belt I! with any suitable source of rotary power cap'able of selectiyely turning the shaft I in either direction of rotation, such as an electric motor (not shown).

The adjustable carriage [2 supports as'tatioh ary spindle 2&3 in axial alignment with the rotary spindle M and firmly hit mt'd u on the station ary spindle 20 near its inner end is another cirf cular plate or disc 2| which may be identical in size with the disc l5, as shown; The adjustable carriage I2 is provided with a setting wheel 22 by means of w'hichits axial distance from the statioiiary support ll ma be varied along the common axis of the spindles l4 and Zfl from an operative position, in which the statio'narj disc 2] is situated adjac'e'rit to th rotary disc 55, to an expanded position in which the former is with drawn from the latter in axial direction as shown in Figures 1 and 2. To insure perfect axial alignment of the two discs in operatiye position; the inner-end of the stationary spindle 20 may be provided with a cylindrical mandrel 23' which is adapted to slide into and engage a correspond;- ing bearing 24' in" the center of the rotary disc l5. Arranged coaxially with thes'tationary disc 21' and secured to the inwardly directed face thereof is a cylindrical anvil 25, as sh wh n Figure 2.; The axial depth of the anvil 25 is equal to the width of the" bar, that is to be transformed into a 'c'ircular collar and which is designated with the numeral 26 in Figures 2 to 6. The circumferehce of the anvil 25' should be slightly larger than the length of said bar.

Piyoted to the inner face oi the rotary disc [5 at points near the periphery thereof are two toners st and at which are of an axial length equal to the axial de'pthot the anvil 25. These rollers are angularly spaced apart and may be of different size, as shown in Figure 2, with the cl'oekwise roller 30 be ng prferably'larger than the counterclockwise roller 3]". These rollers should be so arranged that the spaces between their perigheral surfaces and the cylindrical surface of the anvil 25 equal the thickness of the bar 26, and in order that these spaces may be adjusted very precisely to the require size, means may be provided to slightly the position of the rollers oh the disc l5 relative to the anvil 25. For this purpese the pivot 32' of each roller may be arranged' to have a soi'n'ewhat eccentric stem 33, as shown in Figure 7, and said stern may be formed in the manner of a screw bolt which is adapted to hga'ge a correspondinglythreaded socket 34 provided n the facdof the rotary disc t. Thus, by turning" the pivot in its socket over an arc of 180 degrees the position of its roller 30 or 3|, as the case may be, relative to the cylindrical surface of the anvil 25 may be varied over a distance equal to twice the eccentricity of the pivot stem 33 relative to the pivotal axis.

The size of the angular interval between the rollers 30 and 3! is also of importance and is determined by a plurality of mutually opposing factors, as will appear from the following explanation of the manner in which the described mechanism is operated.

In preparation for the process of the invention the blank 26 is preferably somewhat softened in a suitable annealing furnace. To introduce the heated blank into the described mechanism the setting wheel 22 of the carriage I2 is operated to withdraw the anvil 25 from the rotary disc I and render the rollers 30 and 3! freely accessible. Assuming the rotary position of the disc !5 to be such that the clockwise roller 36 is located below the center of said disc, with the roller 3! spaced therefrom in counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2, the blank is placed upon the roller 30 with its forward end passing underneath the roller 3!, and is positioned tangentially with respect to the anvil 25, so that said anvil may slide freely into its operative position above said blank, when the setting wheel 22 is manipulated to move the stationary disc 2! toward the rotary disc !5.

The necessity of positioning the blank 26 on the roller 30 in the described manner relative to the anvil and the roller 3! determines the lower limit for the angular interval between the rollers and 3!, because if the two rollers were located too closely together, it would be impossible to position the bar tangentially with respect to the anvil, and the latter could not be moved into its operative position with its cylindrical surface radially opposite to the peripheries of the rollers 36 and 3!.

It will be understood that this lower limit for the angular interval between the rollers 30 and 3! is subject to variations depending upon the thickness of the blank and the size of the counterclockwise roller 3!; for instance, if the thickness of the blank is large, such as in the case of bars that are to be bent edgewise to form circular flanges, it will be necessary to space the rollers further apart. On the other hand if the diameter of the roller 3! is small, such as in the exemplary embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the necessary angular spacing between the rollers may be correspondingly smaller.

With the blank 26 properly positioned and the anvil 25 moved into its operative position, and While the operator firmly holds the rear end of the blank with a suitable appliance, such as a pair of pliers as indicated in Figures 3 and 4, power is applied to the rotary shaft !4 to turn the disc I5 in counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figures 2 to 6. This causes the roller 36 to roll the forward end of the bar 26 over and against the cylindrical surface of the anvil 25, with the auxiliary roller 3! travelling idly ahead below the radially decreasing forward end of the blank as illustrated in Figure 3. However, as soon as the active roller 36 passes over the forward edge of the bar 26 (Figure 4) the movement of the rotary disc is reversed causing the roller 36 to re-track its course and climb back onto the outer surface of the blank 26. Since a certain amount of time may elapse before the counterclockwise motion of the disc 5 is arrested and reversed, it is of great importance that the angu- (Figure 4). As a result thereof, whatever impact the roller 3!] may cause, as it climbs back onto the outer surface of the blank, is unable to dislodge the blank from the anvil. It should be noted, however, that the described size of the initially established bend limits the angular interval between the rollers 30 and 3! to very much less than 180 so as to provide sufficient space ahead of roller 3! to take care of any overthrow of the disc I5 in counterclockwise direction without collision of said roller with the rear end of the blank.

As the rotary disc continues to turn in clockwise direction, the auxiliary roller 3! will also climb upon the outer surface of the blank, and as the leading roller 30 rolls the rearward end of the blank over and around the cylindrical sur-- face of the anvil 25, both rollers cooperate to firmly hold the blank against said anvil (Figure 5). Hence, the operator may release the rearward end of the blank as soon as the auxiliary roller 3! has climbed upon its back so that the disc !5 may now make one or several complete revolutions in clockwise direction without any interference. Again it is of great importance that the angular interval between the rollers 30 and 3! be of the proper size because said interval must be large enough to enable said rollers to hold the blank securely against the anvil 25 with a minimum of slippage, and at the same time it must be sufficiently narrow to prevent warping or buckling of the blank intermediately of said rollers. I have found that an angle of the order of will usually give very satisfactory results; it should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to angles of this size and that the optimum value thereof will vary in practice depending upon the thickness of the blank and the nature of the material from which it is made.

When the rotary disc has made one full revolution in clockwise direction, the ends of the bar 26 are joined as shown in Figure 6. As a finishing operation the two rollers may now be oscil-- lated several times over the juncture of the edges to insure perfect roundness in this region of the collar. The stationary disc 2! may then be withdrawn from the rotary disc I5 by operation of the setting wheel 22 and the completed collar may be removed from the anvil 25.

The described method of manufacturing circular collars or flanges is inexpensive since it proceeds from straight bars and the required mechanism is simple and easy to handle. It can be operated very speedily so that it is possible for a skilled mechanic to turn out a completed collar in less than a minute. The finished products are perfectly round without any warps and especially without any fiat spots in the area where the two edges are joined so that screw threads may readily be cut into their inner or outer surfaces.

The apparatus of my invention may easily be constructed in such a manner that it can be em ployed to produce collars of different dimensions. For this purpose the apparatus may be so constructed that the Stationary disc with its anvil 25 can conveniently be exchanged for discs having anvils of different axial depths and different diameters. Correspondingly, the inner face of the rotary disc may be provided with a selection of sockets 34 adapted to detachably hold the pivots of the rollers (Figure 2) so that the position of the rollers relative to one another and relative to the center of the disc may be varied depending upon the size of the anvil employed and the thickness of the blank to be processed.

While I have explained my invention with the aid of a specific example, I do not wish to be limited to the various constructional details shown and described which may be departed from without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention and the manner in which it is to be performed, what I claim is:

1. Mechanism for producing arcuate metallic bodies, comprising a cylindrical anvil, a disc arranged coaxially with and adjacent to said anvil, a pair of rollers pivoted to said disc at angularly spaced points with their peripheries spaced equal radial distances from the periphery of said anvil, and means for selectively turning said disc in either direction of rotation.

2. Mechanism for producing arcuate metallic bodies comprising a cylindrical anvil; a pair of discs arranged coaxially with said anvil at either side thereof, said discs being of larger diameters than said anvil; a pair of rollers pivotally mounted intermediately of said discs at angularly spaced points with their peripheries spaced equal radial distances from the periphery of said anvil, and means for selectively moving said rollers concentrically around said anvil in either direction of rotation.

3. Arrangement according to claim 2 wherein one of said discs is arranged to be withdrawn from the other in axial direction.

4. Mechanism for rolling a straight bar into an annular collar or flange comprising a stationary disc, a cylindrical anvil mounted coaxially upon said disc and having an axial depth equal to the width of said bar, a rotary disc disposed coaxially with and adjacent to said anvil, a pair of rollers of an axial length equal to the axial depth of said cylindrical anvil pivoted to said rotary disc at angularly spaced points with their peripheries spaced radially from the periphery of said anvil, and means for selectively turning said rotary disc in either of its directions of rotation.

5. Arrangement according to claim 4 wherein said anvil is adapted to be axially withdrawn from said rotary disc.

6. Arrangement according to claim 4 wherein the angular interval between said rollers is of the order of degrees.

7. Mechanism for rolling a bar into an annular collar or flange, comprising a stationary disc, a cylindrical anvil mounted coaxially upon said disc, a rotary disc disposed coaxially with and adjacent to said anvil, a pair of rollers pivoted to said rotary disc with their peripheries spaced from the periphery of said anvil, means for adjusting the space between said rollers and said anvil to the thickness of said bar, and means for selectively turning said rotary disc in either of its directions of rotation.

8. Arrangement according to claim 7 wherein said rollers are of difierent size.

9. Mechanism for rolling bars into annular collars or flanges comprising a cylindrical anvil, a rotary disc arranged coaxially with and adjacent to said anvil, a plurality of sockets provided in said rotary disc, a pair of pivots detachably held in angularly spaced ones of said sockets, a pair of rollers rotatably mounted upon said pivots with their peripheries spaced equal distances from the periphery of said anvil, and means for selectively turning said rotary disc in either of its directions of rotation.

ARVIN TUTTLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 519,812 Griswold May 15, 1894 525,961 Mossberg Sept. 11, 1894 716,005 Dillon Dec. 16, 1902 719,304 Coghlin Jan. 27, 1903 1,020,582 Straus Mar. 19, 1912 1,262,882 Warner Apr. 16, 1918 1,293,397 Frank Feb. 4, 1919 1,836,502 Poole Dec. 15, 1931 1,900,160 Cipko Mar. 7, 1933 1,903,799 Wagenba-ch Apr. 18, 1933 1,993,970 MacMurray Mar. 12, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 31,544 Sweden Sept. 16, 1911 116,569 Great Britain June 20, 1918 123,197 Great Britain Feb. 20, 1919 482,204 France Dec. 5, 1916 522,689 France Apr. 5, 1921 

